 |
 ecently I've been pondering a complete lack of leadership
in America, Southern California in particular. The reason should
be obvious. Once upon a time their were true visionaries such
as John Muir, Martin Luther King, Judy Barrie and Harvey Milk.
Hardly champions of the status quo, these leaders all stood for
things bigger than themselves. But that was then, and this is
now.
 No longer
home of the free and land of the brave, America has evolved into
a nation of apathethic consumers. Searching for meaning in a
corporate world, the majority now seeks only a comfortable oblivion
with cable TV and a three car garage. To their detriment, Americans
ask only of their leaders for less taxes and more of everything
else. More roads, more schools, more shopping, more jails, more
schools, more money, more people, and more people with money.
Judging by
a constantly decreasing voter turnout, it is clear the American
public believes leaders are not to be found in government and
politics. George W. Bush isn't leading, he is a mouthpiece for
his father and his cronies. Al Gore could be a leader, but he's
afraid to take a firm stand on anything, including his core issues.
Following the money, Al and George are just the latest presidential
contenders willing to sell democracy to the highest bidder. By
endorsing "Free trade" diplomacy and the World Trade
Organization, both of these leaders are willing to trade American
sovereignty for short term gain.
Wishing to
bring national attention to the continued rape of Southern California,
last week in Leucadia the Lagoon Greens hosted Medea Benjamin,
the Green nominee for US Senate. Ms. Benjamin, founder and director
of the human rights organization Global Exchange, is best known
for her anti-sweatshop campaigns. Believing national security
begins with environmental stewardship, this grass-roots activist
was instrumental in bringing labor and environmental interests
together to do battle in Seattle against the World Trade Organization.
At the Leucadia
house party, the Green candidate spent most of the two hours
discussing Diane Feinstein's dismal environmental record and
a progressive agenda that challenges the prison industrial complex
while promoting a real living wage, universal health care, and
public financing of campaigns. No longer willing to settle for
the lesser of two evils, it is quite clear to this voter that
environmental leadership will not be found with the republicrats
because they are too busy courting the financial favor of the
multinational corporations.
On the local
level, our choices are equally limited. No longer a contest of
ideas, politics has digressed into a pander party, complete with
lawn signs and mud slinging. Here in coastal North County, most
of our "leaders" seem only interested in following
a cultural imperative that defines environmental destruction
as progress. I don't know of one elected official working towards
ecological sustainability. If there is to be a revolution, it
will not be started here in the land of sprawl and crawl.
Civic debate
is impossible because the system is biased against anyone who
would oppose the capitalist jihad laying waste to Southern California.
If you doubt this, attend a city council meeting, where concerned
citizens are given three minutes to speak, and elected officials
are allowed to ramble on for hours as they explain to residents
why their opinions are less valid than those of city staff and
the consultants hired to manipulate the numbers in favor of more
development.
Change in
San Diego County will not come from elected officials because
the process is corrupting by its very nature. Carlsbad mayor
Bud Lewis first ran for office claiming to be an environmentalist,
as did Sheila Cameron of Encinitas. While that might have been
true in the beginning of their political careers, now their environmental
considerations are ignored in light of other pressing needs -
such as reelection.
To appease
the greedy boys and girls who view the world as their personal
Monopoly board, local politicos adapt their opinions to accommodate
those willing to finance campaigns. This is far from news. A
true leader is one not chained to the ballot box, and the fickle
favor of public opinion. True leaders step forward not for personal
gain or glory, but to lead the charge against oppression, injustice,
and downright corruption.
Needed in
San Diego County is someone who has the integrity to say "no"
to the development industry, someone who can champion unpopular
alternatives to the environmental feeding frenzy that allows
for populations to increase while undeveloped space, water resources,
and quality of life evaporates. Needed is someone who can lead
us out of the ethical desert we now find ourselves in. Fastfood
and freeways do not a future make. 
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